5 Star Wedding Directory’s 2015 highlights! | July to December

2015 Weddings: Luxury, style, and more than a bit of daring! Here is part 2 of our highlights…

What a year 2015 has been for the luxury wedding industry. We’ve seen so many of our brilliant suppliers take their luxury products to the next level, whether it’s dress design, event planning, or weaving floral masterpieces. We’re looking back on 2015 – a year in which we expanded our writing team and launched our slicker, faster, and more beautiful website and logo – and have chosen some of our highlights from the year. In the final part of our rundown of 2015, we’re remembering highlights from July to December – read about January to June, here.

July – Berta Bridal gets pulses racing with the launch of the fall collection

We had to include a dress range on our yearly highlights, and while we had so many to choose from we just loved this Berta Bridal Fall collection we featured in July. The range, launched at a catwalk show at the magnificent Mandarin Oriental Hotel in London, is all about daring necklines and intricate embellishments. See the whole beautiful range, read more.

August – Finding the best photographers worldwide… using Instagram!

What better way to find the world’s best wedding photographers than via the premier photography social network, Instagram? In August we trawled the Insta-verse, using the hashtag #weddingphotographer, to see what gems we could find by professional photographers from the USA to Europe to New Zealand. See the stunning array of wedding photos (from real weddings, no less) that we found via Instagram in part 1, part 2, and part 3 of our in-depth blog on wedding photographers.

September – A brilliant day at the UK’s biggest wedding showcase

In a tremendous display of glamour, glitz, music, and fizz, September saw Kensington Olympia open its doors for the National Wedding Show once again! We were proud media sponsors of the event, and so we were there for the moment the doors opened on the first day. There was so much to see and sample this year, as well as a really well choreographed catwalk featuring the most beautiful gowns. Read all about our day at the show, in September’s blog ‘A day at the National Wedding Show’.

A showcase of a new line – be it dresses, shoes, or cakes – is always a delight, but when it’s hosted in one of London’s most fabulous hotels and photographed by premier photographer John Nassari, you know it’s going to be completely breathtaking. We were invited by GC Couture Cakes to view their new line, Seasons of Sugar, in the perfect setting; a glittering wonderland of trees and lights, where the cakes were displayed in the season that inspired their creation. The photos from this one are a must see, all of which we were proud to feature in this blog, back in October.

November – 5 Star Weddings writer Abbie escapes to Bali, to find out how Alila Hotels do weddings

Unfortunately, the whole 5 Star Weddings team couldn’t pack their bags and jet off with Abbie to Bali last November, but the luscious photos she was sending our way were almost as good as being there… sort of. Abbie was the guest of Alila Hotels & Resorts, a leading hospitality company in Bali, where she got the chance to stay at several of their resorts, and find out why Bali is such a desirable destinations for weddings… read the first of Abbie’s blog series, here.

December – Looking forward to exciting things to come in 2016… starting with a fairytale

Finally, we rounded off our totally brilliant year by announcing our involvement in a gorgeous new showcase by Scarlet Events. We can’t wait for February 2016 now, when we will be sponsoring the invitation-only showcase at the Four Seasons Hotel. Designed for Brides to meet high-end suppliers over cocktails and canapés, the dazzling showcase – aptly named ‘Once Upon A Fairytale’ – will feature a number of high-profile luxury British and International brands, including Suzie Turner, Freya Rose, GC Couture, and many more… And, of course, we have some invitations to give away to lucky readers! Visit our blog post from December to find out more.

And lastly…

A few more events and highlights we can’t resist adding into our round up of 2015; there was the completely whacky and wonderful ‘Come to bed at the Savoy‘, hosted by the inimitable Bruce Russell. There was photographer John Nassari’s workshop, Back Stage Project – Life Through The Lens, to which 5 Star Weddings’ Tai was invited for a day of seeing life through Nassari’s venerable lens. Brides the Show was a lovely day, with some of the best suppliers in the UK under the beautiful glass roof at Islington Design Centre, featuring a one-off catwalk by Jenny Packham. All in all, the past year has been a whirlwind of white lace and champagne – and we’ve loved every second! Happy new year, dear readers… and here’s to 2016!